Posts tagged portabliss

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Hi, my name is Earnest and I have a motorcycle problem. It started small, a few races here and there, a couple minor upgrades, but before I knew it, I was standing on a street corner, panhandling for enough cash to...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Days after having soaked in the culture of Tokyo's suburban streets, I played Tengami for the first time, and it was the perfect set up to blow me away. Nyamyam's point-and-click (or point-and-tap) adventure draws ...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Gym memberships see a sharp spike in January, due to fitness-minded New Year's Resolutions. Gym attendance typically sees a sharp decline in March, as the Resolute realize how boring getting in shape actually is....

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Device 6, most simply described as a puzzle game for iOS, makes me the delicious kind of uncomfortable that comes from being in a room with ordinary objects that are just not quite right somehow. A simple chair t...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Remember how you watched The Neverending Story, and you wished you had your very own luck dragon to pal around with? Enter Buddy & Me, a delightful runner-style game for iOS and Kindle Fire. The enormous or...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
The Drowning has the best controls of any touch-based shooter I've ever experienced. I'm in love; I don't ever want to go back to the way things were before. I hope I never touch a virtual thumbstick again.
It's...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Taking cues from the realism and mission planning in the original Rainbow Six games, Breach & Clear offers iOS players a turn-based, tactical strategy game with mountains of potential. Sadly, the Gun and Mighty...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Nintendo served up a collection of new StreetPass games for the Nintendo 3DS earlier this month, offering players new opportunities to exploit their 3DS-owning friends to earn new Mii hats and outfits. Like the exi...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS) is a multi-pronged nostalgia assault, combining creator Kaz Ayabe's well-documented love of early 1970's small-town Japan childhood with a fond look back at the Ult...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Shoot-'em-ups often cater to a hardcore niche, so it's encouraging to see developer FuturLab take an alternate approach to the genre with its recent PlayStation Vita release Velocity Ultra. The finished product eff...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Deus Ex: The Fall had a difficult coming out party. After predicting a follow-up to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, fans recoiled in frustration when Square Enix revealed The Fall as a mobile-exclusive game.
Molding ...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
In Tokyo Jungle's bleak future, gangs of wild animals hunt to survive in an abandoned, post-apocalyptic Japan, marking territory in a bid to find an ideal mate and to pass on their genes to hardier generations. The...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
At first, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room comes across like a decaffeinated, oddly flavored cup of Professor Layton, shaken and stirred into something familiar, but not in an encouraging way. Gone are the prof and hi...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Solstice Arena appeared on the App Store last week. It's a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game in which you choose a hero and play a top-down 3v3 match. Using various spells and abilities, you attack the op...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown seems like it was built for iPad. The touch-screen controls on the iOS port are so good that the game feels like it was lovingly crafted specifically for touch devices from the get-go.
These ...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
"Yu-WHAT NOW?"
If you own a PSP, you may already be familiar with Acquire's RTS-like YU-NAMA series. NIS America released the first two entries stateside as Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! After Bruce Wayne's ...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
There was a time when the beat-em-up was king, a time when Streets of Rage, Final Fight and Golden Axe were at the top of the heap. Combo Crew on iOS and Android looks to return to those days, offering several uniq...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
Ron Gilbert's Beep Games has a new game out on iOS called Scurvy Scallywags (subtitle: In the Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty), and it's a match-three puzzle game with light RPG elements and plenty of pi...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
The PlayStation Vita represents an interesting cross-section between traditional console games and mobile apps. During the time I've spent with the handheld, I've found myself gravitating toward its mobile-influenc...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.
It's rare for an iPhone adaptation of a classic game to work out at all; rarer still for said adaptation to be preferable to the original. Jordan Mechner's faithful iOS/Android port of Karateka accomplishes this ta...